I’m a Christian. Writer. Chef. Believer. I live to love life, and write about it. I believe in words. Recipes are food for the soul. Stories are meant to be told. And I like to tell them. I am a writer.

This week, my Kindle books are free. Not all at the same time, so you’ll want to check my Amazon Author Page daily. It my way of giving back for all the support y’all have given me.

Now here’s the favor. And this in no way is a tit-for-tat situation. You can take the freebies without obligation. I promise.

But it’d be awful sweet if you could leave a review of any of my books on Amazon. As a boutique, small-town, digital book publisher, my marketing consists of me passing out business cards at conferences and telling others by word of mouth.

Field of Dreams

If you’ve read something that’s touched you, made a recipe that brought your family together, or enjoyed some quiet time while reading one or more of my books, I’d sure appreciate the shout-out.

If you have any suggestions on how to make them better, a question or a thought on something that just doesn’t sit right, well I’d welcome that feedback, too.

I hope to continue this journey with you, and prove myself trustworthy of the time you’re taking to spread the word about my books.

Hey, y’all. I trust you had a great weekend. Mine was wonderfully out of the ordinary. Unfortunately, I don’t have any new photos to share. Crazy, right? I mean, this is me we’re talking about. Oh, well. Take my word for it: the scenery was beautiful.

I drove up to Fresno, which is no little task for me. When I was younger, I used to drive all the time. It was nothing to head to the beach or Disneyland or even up to the mountains. But somewhere between here and there, my collection of car accidents plus having Dot to consider . . . well, my drive to drive took a wrong turn (see what I did there?).

Let’s not forget it was just a few simple years ago that I got lost coming home from Disneyland–a trip I’d made at least twenty times in as many years. The Southern California freeways are not necessarily enjoyable. And in my neck of the desert, there is always, and yes I do mean always, some form of road construction or deconstruction going on.

Keep moving.

[Okay, so this meme was created, like, over a year ago. I had to put some visualization in this post. Anyway . . . ]

When Dot and her husband began their grand adventure, I whispered, “I wish I was brave like you.” Now that she is married and three states away, a little bit of that bravery has come back to me.

No longer do I have to consider coming home “on time” to make dinner for anyone other than myself. I don’t have to worry about “If I do this, what will she do?” I’m no longer a single parent trying to make ends meet and feeling guilty for eating all the ice cream. Nosirreebob, I am just single. (Unless you count the FurFamily. But that’s a tad diff, don’t you think?)

So. When my friend Becky said, “Come on up for the weekend.” I said “Are you nuts? Don’t you know I don’t drive? Like, ever ever. You wanna drive me crazy? Why don’t you come see me and keep the peace instead?” I said, “Hey. I’ve been wanting to be braver. This isn’t too bad. And it’s the opposite of LA traffic. Sure, I’ll come visit.”

Now, mind you. Ursula is nine years old, and it’s been a while since she’s been out on the open road for any great stretch. But they (whoever “they” in the care-for-your-car-industry is) recommend taking your car on longish drives now and then to clean out the carburetor And by the way, I had to verify the spelling on that word. Doesn’t it sound like it should be spelled “carborator”? That’s what I thought, too. Obviously.

But I digress. So. Back on track. Yesterday morning I packed up my Babycakes laptop, a few Jamberry supplies, some bottles of water, and put ‘er in gear.

This crazy thing happened to me. Someone called it confidence and I said what did you smoke from your peace pipe and they said no its true and I said no seriously and they said don’t you believe in yourself and I said yes I do but I just drove four hours and in people terms that’s like two hundred and fifty miles which is like sixty miles more than the drive to Vegas and three times as far as Disneyland and have I mentioned that lately I get lost coming home from Disneyland and they said stop being so dramatic you haven’t been to Disneyland in years and I said I KNOW BECAUSE THE LAST TIME I TRIED COMING HOME I GOT LOST and they said stop talking to yourself so I did.

Except to tell myself once more that I have more confidence.

I realized anything that could happen to me and/or my car such as a flat tire or a breakdown could also happen close to home. I have my Triple-A membership card. I have a sense of adventure. So why not go the distance (see what I did there?)?

And then comes the best part. Not only did I get to spend the weekend with Becky and her husband, but her husband happens to be Al of Al Gansky fame, of Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference and Firsts in Fiction fame. Yes, that Al Gansky. Of course a month ago when Becky and I were planning this I tolddictated asked Aaron in his capacity as my writing mentor, “So, it’s not totally weird for you that I’m going to go hang out with your folks for a weekend, right? Cuz if it is, we need to talk.” [I told him before Blue Ridge that I collect parents. This shouldn't have been a surprise for him.] [Apparently, it wasn't.]

Obviously he and Naomi were fine with it (I did have to promise not to supersede them on the parents’ Christmas card list) and the rest is almost history. Er, almost the rest is history. I mean . . .

ANYWAY.

I spend the weekend with Becky and Al which was a lot of fun when you consider a few things:

The excuse for the drive was for Becky to hostess a Jamberry party, which allowed us some fun girl time with a few guests.

I got to pick Al’s brain about all things writing, editing, and Blue Ridge. Like, conference chatter. And it isn’t even conference time! I found out more of what goes into the behind-the-scenes, and I shared with him some of my immediate, short-term, and long-term goals as a writer and editor. He didn’t even charge me a coaching fee.

A once-a-year thunderstorm hit just as I was considering coming home Saturday night. So I stayed per the original plan and we enjoyed some flickering lights, dimming TV screens, flashes of lightning and serious boomage that set car alarms off. Now that’s thunder!

We watched Perry Mason and Alfred Hitchcock together. Between yelling “Motive!” at the TV and pointing our fingers at all the characters, all I can say is, Al will never let me near the medicine cabinet. And he really shouldn’t leave the cyanidesaccharin pain pills where anyone can get at them. Just sayin’. How’s that coffee this morning, Al?

The same, easy drive to get up to Fresno was just as easy coming home. Except for the microburst in Tehachapi that slowed traffic for about fifteen minutes. Only in California can the sky ahead be blue while the sky directly above is bringing down God’s wrath. Just sayin’.

Once I got home and loved on the FurFamily, we had our own storm system move in. That was about five hours ago. And it’s still here. Lightning. Thunder. Rain. It’s all good.

So I sort lied about the no new photos thing. Okay. This isn’t a photo. It’s a video. I know, semantics. And you can’t hear the thunder, but trust me. It was there!

I think I’m gonna bottle this sound and play it all time. Especially when I’m writing NOLA. Or missing Blue Ridge. Or when it’s too hot and dry. Or when I’m trying to sleep. Or any other time. Yes. Definitely any time is a good time to listen to rain.

I’d say all in all it was a great weekend. And it left me with a deeper drive to reach my goals: writing, editing, social media presentations, speaking, Jamberry, redecorating Bedford Manor, and making sure all my peeps know they’re important to me (the people, not the goals) (well, I mean, both. But the people. Right now, I’m talking about the people).